Beverage bucket



March 2%, 195%) E J, GUARD 2,,QL772 BEVERAGE BUCKET F iled Sept. 4, 1947 INVENTOR. 5 JHM 5 11:?

Patented Mar. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BEVERAGE BUCKET Edward John Guard, Baltimore, Md.

Application September 4, 1947, Serial No. 772,187

Claims. (Cl. 6234) The present invention relates to a combination portable beverage bucket and cooler.

The bucket, or carrier, is particularly adapted for bottled, or canned, beverages such as beer, soft-drinks, milk, and the like which are normally bottled or canned in small containers, and which are usually more palatable after they have been cooled. Probably one of the oldest and most satisfactory methods of cooling these individual containers. is by submerging them into a cooled liquid, or by surrounding the container with relatively small particles of ice. Many of these buckets are now in use for this purpose. However, the customary beverage carrier is subject to sweating as the warm air containing water comes in contact with the outside of the container. This is particularly true if the container is constructed of metal, or of any material which is a good conductor of heat. This sweating of the container is quite objectionable in that if it is placed upon furniture or other delicately finished surfaces, the water may cause considerable injury and possible damage to the surface upon which it rests.

It is, therefore, one of the objects to provide means whereby such a beverage carrier may not be subject to sweating when carrying a cooling medium.

Another object is to provide means associated with the carrying handle for removing the caps of standard bottles and cans.

Still another object being to provide a unique form of container in which a maximum number of small beverage containers may be transported and cooled.

A further object being to provide such a device which is simply and efliciently constructed.

While several objects of the invention have been specifically pointed out, other objects and advantages will also be apparent as the nature and'purpose of the invention is more fully described in the following specification and shown in the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the carrier and cooling apparatus on line i--l of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the same.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3--3 of Figure 2. V

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line d-d of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings where like charactel-s represent like parts throughout the several views, the improved beverage carrying and cooling bucket consists of an inner container supporting member S for supporting the containers 5 8 and the ice particles Hi. This supporting member of thebucket is preferably made of one piece having its side sections adjacent the bottom formed in a number of recesses l to receive the bottoms of the containers to prevent them from tilting over, the general slope of the wall being preferably approximately degrees. The upper edge of the supporting member 6 being turned outwardly and downwardly over the upper edge of the outer wall member [2. The bottom 6' of the member 6 is cone shaped, the outer portions extending inwardly toward the center at an angle of approximately degrees with the side wall 6. This provides a portion of the bottom of the bucket with a surface parallel with the bottom of the container upon which it may rest.

Extending around the inner supporting member is an outer wall or cover member [2 which is spaced outwardly from the member 6 to form a dead air space between the twomembers. The

inner and outer members are fastened together adjacent this top edge at l2 preferably by lapping or seaming the two edges together as shown in Figure 3. In the center of the bottoms of the two members 6 and I2 is a tie or rivet member It and a spacing element [5 for holding the members inspaced relationship relative to each other.

Secured to each side of the carrier is a handle I8 which is provided with suitable pins 20 and 22, which are in turn receivable within separate apertures within the brackets 24 and 26. These brackets are adapted to fasten to the outer wall or covering l 2. However, any suitable means may be provided for hingably supporting the handle.

The handle I8 is provided with means 28 for removing a conventional bottle cap. The handle is in cross-sectional U-shaped form, the outer edges of the U extending upwardly and being slightly wider than the standard bottle cap. The member 28 is formed with a hook portion 28 for engaging the underside of the cap.

To remove a cap, a closure, from a container, the handle is normally raised to the position as shown in Figure 1, the bottle or container is placed in substantially a horizontal position with the under edge of the closure being engaged by the portion 28' of the member 28 as shown in the upper position in Figure 1. By moving the container downwardly to a. position as substantially shown by the lower lines in Figure 1, the closure will be removed.

It can be readily seen that a device of this kind has many advantageous features as it is particularly adapted for bottled or canned beverages such as beer, soft drinks, etc., which are provided with standard caps.

The containers are placed in the recesses and the center of the carrier or bucket is filled with ice, or the combination of ice and water. As the outer wall I2 is spaced outwardly from the support member 6 there will be no sweating of the outer wall and the carrier will not soil or damage the surface upon which it is rested. The inner supporting member 6 is water tight so that there will be no leakage into the space between the inner and the outer members.

As the general shape of the carrier is trapezoidal, they may be stacked one upon the other. The outer bottom portion I2" is of substantially the same diameter as the inner container support directly above the upper ends I' of the recesses; therefore, the bottom of one bucket will rest upon the upper edges 1' when the buckets are stacked. The handle is of such length and shape that it will fold along the edge of the carrier as shown in Figure 2. I

While a specific form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereby, but that the scope of the invention is best defined in the appending claims.

I claim:

1. A portable carrier especially adapted for carrying beverage containers and for use in cooling the same, said carrier comprising an inner supporting member for supporting said containers having its sides sloping inwardly toward the bottom thereof, the bottom of the said inner supporting member adjacent the side wall extending outwardly toward the center at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, an outer cover member spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the inner supporting member and means for fixedly securing the outer cover to the inner supporting member in spaced relationship.

2. A portable carrier for beverage containers and for use in cooling the same, said carrier comprising an inner supporting member for supporting said containers having its side portions sloping inwardly toward the bottom portion thereof, the bottom of the said inner supporting member adjacent the side wall extending outwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, means associated with the side walls and adjacent the bottom of said inner supporting member for positioning the containers around the inner surface of the carrier, an outer cover member spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the inner supporting member and means for fixedly securing the outer cover to the inner supporting member in spaced relationship.

3. A portable carrier for beverage containers and for use in cooling the same, said carrier comprising an inner supporting member for supporting said containers having its side portions sloping inwardly toward the bottom portion thereof, the bottom of the said inner supporting member adjacent the side wall extending outwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, the side wall section of the supporting member adjacent the bottom being formed to provide recesses for receiving the said beverage containers, an outer cover member spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the inner supporting member and meals for fixedly securing the outer cover member to the inner supporting member in spaced relationship.

4. A portable carrier especially adapted for carrying beverage containers having removable closures and for use in cooling the same, said carrier comprising an inner supporting member for supporting said containers having its sides sloping inwardly toward the bottom thereof, the bottom of the inner supporting member adjacent the side wall extending outwardly therefrom at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, an outer cover member spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the inner supporting member, means for fixedly securing the outer cover to the inner supporting member in spaced relationship, a handle hingedly secured to each side of the upp r edge of the carrie and means carried by said handle for removing the said container closures.

5. A portable carrier especially adapted for carrying beverage containers and for use in cooling the same, said carrier comprising an inner supporting member for supporting said containers having its sides sloping inwardly toward the bottom thereof, the bottom of the said inner supporting member, adjacent the side wall portion extending outwardly at an angle of approximately 90 degrees, means associated with the side wall adjacent the bottom of the inner support for positioning the containers around the inner surface of the carrier, an outer cover member spaced outwardly from the outer surface of the inner supporting member, means for fixedly securing the outer cover member over the inner supporting member in spaced relationship, the diameter of the bottom of the outer cover being substantially the same as the diameter of the inner supporting member at a point adjacent the upper ends of the container positioning means, whereby the carriers may be stacked one upon the other.

EDWARD JOHN GUARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 991,715 Good May 9, 1911 1,681,110 Friedman Aug. 14, 1928 2,356,068 Larsson Aug. 15, 1944 

